I was bitten once by a dog that did not have a rabies vaccine, so it was a bit tense during the quarantine period. I was mowing the lawn and didn't see it approach.
On another occasion, a German Shepherd chased my young children who were riding their bikes until I settled him down with a whack from an appropriate implement. His owner saw the whole thing, tried to call him back, and kept him much better controlled after that. (We often rode in that neighborhood.)
Being an avid mountain biker, I've been chased a lot. Usually, it is easy enough to outrun them, but I am willing to stop and tangle if I can't. There's not much most pet dogs can really do to a 200+ lb man with some experience, training, and improvised weapons. Even when I carried concealed, I never felt the need to shoot one.
When we raised sheep some years ago, we often had a rottweiler come around looking for trouble on a regular basis. This was the closest I got to shooting one. It was a big animal who could hurt most people. Eventually, the rottweiller wandered into a fenced in area. Since I am the better rifle shot, I covered her with the rifle, while my wife (armed with a pistol) went outside and quickly closed the gate to capture the rottweiler for animal control who took him away never to be seen again. We shot a number of coyotes when we raised sheep, but gave dogs that were likely pets the benefit of the doubt.
In my view, a dog in a secure fence (including a tennis court) is as good as a dog on a leash. If they don't leave poo lying around and they keep it to times of low use, I'm not gonna complain, regardless of what the sign says. I view most parks, lakes, and public facilities the same way. I don't mind sharing with well behaved dogs, regardless of the rules.
I once owned a couple of golden retrievers who were escape artists. Before I provided sufficiently secure fencing, they escaped, got into a neighbors chicken coop, and did a lot of damage. I apologized profusely, asked how much the neighbor needed to cover his losses and feel like he was whole financially, and wrote the check.
If you don't mind if I use the necessary force if your dog threatens my children, my person, or my livestock, and if you clean up their poo, I doubt I'll be the first to complain if you let them run a bit here and there. It would have been cheaper to replace my golden retrievers than all the chickens they killed.
